The Norwegian Supreme Court on Friday acquitted a Bosnian-born man of war crime charges because the country’s constitution prohibits applying a law retroactively in such cases.

Mirsad Repak was sentenced in 2008 by the Oslo District Court to five years in prison for abusing Bosnian Serb prisoners in Bosnia’s Dretelj detention camp in 1992, when he was a member of a paramilitary force.

He spent four months in custody, but appealed and was released two years ago while awaiting a final decision from the high court.

The case sets a precedent in Norway, which has not held a war crimes trial since Nazi collaborator Vidkun Quisling and other Norwegians were tried in the aftermath of World War II.

Repak was sentenced based on a Norwegian war crime law provision adopted in 2008 that covers crimes against humanity, genocide and terrorism, and allowed it to be applied retroactively.

The Supreme Court on Friday said this provision violates the country’s constitution.

The move effectively quashed Repak’s sentence and ordered he remain free. It also repeated a 2008 acquittal of crimes against humanity.

Repak’s lawyer, John Christian Elden, said although he cannot be tried for war crimes he still could face a charge of deprivation of liberty.

Law professor Jo Stigen described the court’s decision as a “setback.”

“This means Norway cannot take responsibility with responding to punishing war criminals from the Balkans,” said Stigen, assistant professor in public and international law at the University of Oslo. “It means Norway will have to focus on newer war crimes.”

Repak, 44, was granted asylum when he moved to Norway in 1993, becoming a Norwegian citizen in 2001. He was arrested in May 2007 on suspicion of committing war crimes.

By VALERIA CRISCIONE
Associated Press
December 03, 2010

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